


ikigai

by La_Temperanza



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Banana Fish Secret Gift Exchange 2018, Banter, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Polyamory, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 10:46:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17242850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Temperanza/pseuds/La_Temperanza
Summary: Not all mornings with Ash and Shorter are exciting and action-packed. In fact, most are lazy, mundane, domestic.They’re also Eiji’s favorite.





	ikigai

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays! For the Banana Fish Exchange I was asked to pinch hit for Cas. One of the things they asked for was ShoreAshEiji and domestic life/fluff, and my happy polyamory loving heart was sold. ~~I JUST WANT THE THREE OF THEM TO BE HAPPY TOGETHER LIVING THEIR BEST LIVES WHY~~
> 
>  **Note:** There is a minor line alluding to Ash’s childhood. It’s vague, nothing detailed and it’s brief, but I just wanted to point it out ahead of time.

Eiji is usually the first one awake in the mornings. 

Years of getting up early for school and track practice have ingrained the habit into him, even after he’s moved to the States. Nowadays, unless he’s sick or sleep-deprived, it’s rare he stays in bed after sunrise. 

He doesn’t mind. It’s a chance to greet the new day all by himself, to meditate on thoughts and inner reflections of the past, present, and future.

It’s also a chance to snap embarrassing candids of his two other bedmates, snoring and drooling in their sleep, and use the photos as possible teasing fodder. 

(He’s amassed quite an impressive collection so far.)

Hiding a yawn behind his hand, Eiji pads into the kitchen to get a start on breakfast. Another habit of his, albeit more recent, picked up in an attempt to pull his weight among the rest of the gang. Nobody ever asked him to do it; one day he decided making healthy meals was the least he could do in exchange for everything, a last ditch effort to not feel so useless. 

One look at the fridge tells him they need to do yet another grocery run soon. It can’t be helped; given the number of people passing in and out of the condo at any given time, Eiji has given up on keeping their food supply fully stocked for more than a day. He’ll have to call one of their elderly neighbors later to see if they’re interested in a trip to the market. In exchange for carrying their bags home—and tolerating them pinching his cheeks like he’s one of their many, many grandchildren—they’ll teach him how to get the freshest meats and produce at a fraction of the retail price. 

(Ash always teases Eiji about it and says he’ll make a good house-husband one day, to which Eiji responds with a crude gesture that would have Mrs. Coleman clutching her metaphorical pearls if she only knew.)

For now, though, Eiji has enough ingredients to scrape together a simple, traditional Japanese-inspired breakfast. While he getting the fish and rice started, he hums a tune he heard on the radio recently, some popular American song with lyrics he doesn’t fully understand but still finds catchy as hell. He’s in the middle of cutting up assorted vegetables for the kobachi when warm, strong arms wrap around him from behind. Eiji smiles and leans into the embrace; he knows it’s Shorter without turning around, considering the other member of their trio rarely drags himself out of bed this early if he can help it. 

“Mm, smells good,” Shorter murmurs and Eiji beams, his cheeks flushed a soft pink. That’s high praise coming from someone whose family owns Chang Dai, one of the best restaurants in Chinatown if not the whole entire city. 

“But you know,” Shorter continues, “Ash is going to bitch about having fish again.”

“I know.” Eiji also knows that after all said “bitching” is over and done with, Ash will still eat anything Eiji puts in front of him. “But if he does not like it, he can make something else.”

“Are you kidding me?” Shorter snorts. He pecks the side of Eiji’s temple before he staggers over to the coffee maker like a caffeine-deprived zombie. “That’s just asking for trouble. My sister still won’t let him one inch near her kitchen after the last time.”

Thinking back on his own failed attempts at a cooking lesson, Eiji doesn’t blame Nadia for her apprehension. It’s funny how Ash Lynx, a highly-trained and intelligent street gang leader, is also the only person Eiji knows who’s actually able to burn a pot of boiling water. 

As silly as it seems, it’s comforting in its own strange, unique way. It’s another reminder that, despite everything, Ash is still human. He should feel allowed to make mistakes every now and then without shouldering guilt over his decision afterward. 

“Speaking of our Sleeping Beauty,” Shorter says around a swig of black coffee, a mischievous gleam in his eye, “wanna help me get his lazy royal ass out of bed?”

***

The twin mattresses in the main bedroom are barely big enough for one person, let alone three. On the nights Ash is comfortable with sharing a bed with someone else—which is thankfully happening more and more often under patient encouragement on Eiji’s part—for all three of them to fit usually involves some careful arranging and tangled limbs tucked into very tender, personal areas. Cramped as hell, yet also comfortable. Cozy. 

But now, with only a single occupant remaining underneath the covers, the bed looks huge. Or maybe it’s Ash who looks small, curled up in a ball like a cat napping in the sun. More than ever it’s easy to see he’s still just a teenager, his normally hardened features smoothed around the edges by sleep. 

Eiji’s fingers twitch with the urge to capture the moment for posterity. He’s halfway to pulling out his phone when he remembers Shorter is standing right beside him. 

“Go ahead, you know want to.” Shorter huffs out a chuckle and nudges his shoulder against Eiji’s. “You’re lucky. He’s never liked having his picture taken before, ever since he was a kid, so you’re probably the only one he’ll let do it.”

Oh. The full terrible weight behind Shorter’s words sinks to the pit of Eiji’s stomach. “...I did not think about that…” he rasps, his suddenly too-dry tongue scraping against the roof of his mouth. “I should have known better—”

“Whoa, Eiji, relax.” Shorter holds up his hands and shakes his head with a sigh. “Trust me, you know how Ash is. If he didn’t want you taking his pic you’d have heard about it by now.”

Before Eiji can respond, the Ash-shaped lump on the bed shifts and groans. “Will you two shut up already...”

Shorter shares a knowing look with Eiji and then gestures down towards Ash with a gigantic shit-eating grin. Starting with three fingers, he silently counts down, and when he hits zero, he and Eiji dramatically flop on top of Ash in perfect unison. 

“Damnit, you’re heavy, get off,” Ash grumbles while making no legitimate attempt to shove them away, even though they all know he could if he truly wanted. “Don’t you guys have anything better to do than bother me?”

“Nope.” Shorter pops the ‘p’ with a wet, sloppy smooch to Ash’s cheek and then ruffles his hair. “You’re ours all morning, Sunshine. Right, Eiji?”

Eiji crawls up the bed until he’s close enough to see the faint smattering of golden freckles bridging Ash’s nose. He leans forward and presses a light kiss against them in greeting. “Good morning, Ash,” he says, folding his arms underneath him to prop up his chin and smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“Mm.” Eiji catches a glimpse of the pale blush blooming across Ash’s cheekbones before Ash turns away to search for his phone, lost within the sheets. “What time is it, anyway?” 

“Ah, a little after seven, I think.”

“Fuck, really?” Ash drops his face into the pillow. “Why did you have to wake me up so early when I got in so late last night?” he whines. “I’m still a growing boy, you know. I need proper sleep.”

“You do not need to grow any more,” Eiji scoffs, petulant. “It is not fair that I am older but you are both taller than me.”

Ash raises his head back up and smirks. “Aww, don’t worry, o~nii~chan,” he sing-songs. His hand rubs up and down Eiji’s back, fingers tracing the spine in a way that never fails to make Eiji shiver. “Shorter and I think you’re the perfect size.”

Eiji gulps, his entire body flushed red. “R-really?”

“Yeah!” Shorter nods over the crook of Ash’s shoulder. “At least with you around, there’s no argument over who’s going to be the little spoon. Or I guess in this case, littlest spoon—oof!”

He reels back at the pillow Eiji hurls right at his face, and the intense pillow fight that follows lasts a full fifteen minutes before dissolving into a pile of sweaty bodies and breathless laughter. 

***

As predicted, Ash complains about fish for breakfast. 

It doesn’t stop him from getting a second helping though. Probably because Shorter keeps stealing from Ash’s plate, even after Eiji’s made sure everyone has equal portions. 

Instead of spreading out around the table, they instinctively huddle together to eat. Knees knock playfully against each other, arms graze by in passing when reaching for plates. The meal is filled with good food and even better company, with fond smiles shared amongst lovely conversation. In the midst of a discussion he doesn’t really follow, Eiji sits back in his chair and closes his eyes. The familiar measure of Ash’s voice, the rumbling timbre of Shorter’s laughter; it envelopes Eiji from all sides, pocketing him in a bubble of fuzzy, tingling warmth that seeps into his core. 

When Ibe-san invited him to escape the doldrums of Japan by tagging along to America, Eiji hadn’t known what to expect besides the gritty underbelly portrayed in popular criminal dramas. And yeah, he’s experienced plenty of that from the moment he’s arrived, often in too high of a definition for comfort. Despite others what might think, he’s not naive enough to think any reprieve they’re given is nothing more than the calm before the next storm. 

But on laidback mornings such as these, with no urgent sense of danger looming precariously above their heads, it’s easy for Eiji to forget everything except the protective weight of Shorter’s arm slung over his shoulder and the comforting grasp of Ash’s hand clasped within his own.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and reviews are always appreciated! <3 ~~Especially since this is my first Banana Fish fic ever.~~


End file.
